DC Sail is the community sailing program of the National Maritime Heritage Foundation.

Our mission is to promote and sustain affordable educational, recreational and competitive sailing programs for all ages in a fun and safe environment. DC Sail empowers its participants to develop self-respect and sportsmanship, foster teamwork, and cultivate sailing skills and an appreciation for maritime-related activities. In addition, DC Sail enhances the DC community by using sailing to bolster community spirit and volunteerism.

Our active programs, located in both Southeast and Southwest Washington, D.C., are re-connecting people of the metropolitan region to the water. Sailing opportunities are available for adults and youth aboard small boats as well as our 65-foot schooner, American Spirit. Proceeds from our programs and year-around fundraising initiatives go toward offering under-served youth the opportunity to learn to sail through our Youth Scholarship Program.

DC Sail is the gateway to community sailing in Washington, DC!

We offer “Learn to Sail” programs for children, teens, and adults.

Updated Advisory: May 27, 2020

We continue to monitor the governmental COVID-19 restrictions closely and will update here as information is confirmed.Our goal is to protect the health and safety of the DC Sail community by minimizing the potential spread of the virus.

DC Sail is dedicated to the health, safety and well being of our members, students and their families. With the guidance of US Sailing, CDC, and local governmental entities, we are currently developing strong sanitation and procedural protocols as we prepare for reopening our operations.

With the stay at home mandates being lifted and some parks permitted for reopening, we remain under the "no more than 10 may gather" measures.

We are awaiting the delivery of necessary health and safety equipment before we can resume programming, but hope to have that in place by mid-June. (E.g.; Items included are four portable hand washing stations for the docks, which were ordered weeks ago, but due to overwhelming demand in the marketplace, this was back ordered to June.)

When we are able to resume limited programming, there will be major changes to how we will manage personnel engaging in lessons, rentals and our evening programs. Some of these restrictions include all attendees wear face coverings while on the docks, and all sailors and guests will be required to have their own personal life jackets. We will temporarily cease the usage of shared DC Sail life jackets. Additional guidelines will be announced as confirmed.

Evening Programs:Member Sails and Social Sails, scheduled to have started mid-May, are suspended until further notice. They will be resumed when physical distancing measures are appropriately lifted, DPR facilities are fully re-opened and permit more than 50 persons to gather, which will allow us to safely run the programs. It is anticipated that these events may not feasibly resume until July and may be subject to modification of how we manage these events based upon CDC rulings. There will be no shared DC Sail life jackets available as mentioned above. If you wish to attend, you'll be required to bring your own life jacket. This is in compliance with guidelines from CDC and other health related organizations. v

Life Jacket Resources:Please click here for the West Marine website that sells the same life jackets that we use. It is less then $25 and is perfectly fine and USCG approved. You’re welcome to shop for “sportier” models too – just look for USCG inshore life jackets. You do not need the more expensive offshore/inflatable types of jackets. There is a West Marine store in Alexandria that is open for foot traffic. Please click here for their location information. Other retailers may include REI or Dick’s Sporting Goods as options. Recommend you contact their stores to inquire about available stock.

Please note that you may see a few of our boats on the water if you're nearby our docks. These are small numbers of our High School Racing Program sailors, (less than 10 at a time), who are under the supervision of coaching staff, and are qualified to "single hand" sail our modified Flying Junior fleet.

Wishing everyone good health and safety as we navigate this difficult health crisis.

Thank you for your patience and support.

Adult Sailing Opportunities

Membership with DC Sail for 12 months starts at $225 and includes evening sailing opportunities during Monday Members Only and Wednesday Social Sails from mid-May through mid-September. DC Sail members may also purchase up to four tickets for our beautiful "Sunset Sails" on our 65-foot schooner, "American Spirit." With proper certification, members are also eligible for Boat Rentals.

“Learn to Sail” packages are $515 for adults and include a 12-Month Basic Membership. We also offer Refresher Course and "Intro to FJs" which will prepare you for our Adult Racing Program. Please click here to review our many Adult programs - click any of the areas to learn more about how you can get out on the water with DC Sail. (*Membership is required to participate in our lessons, rentals, and racing program.)

The vessel is also available for Private Charters for up to 40 passengers for a three-hour cruise! Please see our Schooner Sailing page for more information. We also host Educational Charters for school groups on "American Spirit."

Youth Sailing Opportunities

Kids Set Sail Summer Camps:

Summer Camp registration for Kids Set Sail (ages 7-15) registration is now open for the 2020 program. Kids Set Sail is a week-long day camp with eight separate sessions held from late June through mid-August. Click here to be delivered to the KSS web page for information and registration. Previous sailing experience is not required.

High School Racing Program:

Spring 2020 Season is now available for registration. Click herefor information and to register your sailor.

Sailors, ages 12 and up may participate. For sailors new to the sport, specifically racing skills, we offer a wonderful "Green Fleet" program that incorporates "learn to sail/learn to race" coaching and allows youth sailors to become familiar with sailing the Flying Junior fleet, an Olympic racing boat. It is perfect for youth sailors who may have some experience with summer camps or other sailing, perhaps with family, but do not have training on Flying Juniors in race tactics, starting sequences, rules of the road, etc. Either way, with the "Green Fleet," no sailing experience is required!

With our most sincere gratitude, we enthusiastically thank all of our regatta participants, partners, sponsors, members, volunteers, donors, and guests for a wonderful day of sailing and celebrating in the evening at the After Party!(We have posted a photo gallery on ourFacebook Page.Please click hereto be delivered to the album!)